Gaffer’s View: West Ham away 0-1

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish says that Blues striker Nikola Zigic could be as good as Peter Crouch if he would just believe in himself a bit more.

McLeish`s comments came after the lanky striker had found the net against West Ham again to hand Birmingham three very valuable points in their fight against relegation.

McLeish has been feeding Zigic videos of Crouch in action to show how the Spurs front man uses his height to his advantage in the penalty area.

McLeish said: “He`s a bit more like Crouchy. When he started he was a little awkward and ungainly but worked hard at his game and became impossible at times for defenders to play him.”

“He`s still doing it. We`re looking for the big fella to use Crouchy as an example. He`s watched videos of Crouch.”

“He`s upped his game. He`s at a good level now. He`s an international player and it`s been a challenge getting used to England.”

“He`s beginning to hold his own. He was pushed in the back for the goal but he managed to stay firm and get his head on it”.

“It was a matter of showing him videos and some of his own footage. It`s a very different style of football to Spain and Serbia. I`d like to see a big return in this half of the season – 20 goals,” he jested.